New Commercial Landlord needs help please!

[deshg]

Hey everyone. I bought a house in Withington, Manchester with a flat and separate shop a few months ago with an existing 10year lease on the shop (4 years left) and the guy has done a runner and abandoned it and not paid his rent. The guy in the shop next door wants to take it over and is willing to sign a new lease under the same conditions although he wants to turn it into a fast food restaurant if he can get planning and if i agree which is not ideal.

My question is, what references/credentials etc should i be asking for in terms of a commercial lease and what are the average lengths (if there is such a thing) with regard to commercial leases, as obviously i ideally want to tie him in for as long as possible. Also is there anything else particuarly relevant with commercial leases that is not relevant with residential ones that may be sensible to consider? I have only ever dealt with student ASTs before which are obviously less crucial because they are for such a short period of time.

I really appreciate the help,
Thanks everyone,

Dave

[Paul_f]

You need to take legal advice as there is far too much you need to know that cannot possibly be posted here otherwise it would take ages!

A long lease is not always a good idea and you might like to keep it out of the 1954 L & T Act so you can repossess when you want to. See a good brief! :)

[Editor]

Take a look at the free Commercial Tenant Application Form on this site - this will give you some idea of what you should be asking for - http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/agreements.htm
Also, you should always do credit checks - http://www.tenantverify.co.uk
Try for a 9-year lease with 3-yearly reviews. If you can get it a Full Repairing and Insuring (FRI) lease.
You need a good solicitor as Paul says to draw-up your lease.
See the books here - http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/commercial_property.htm
Managing Commercial Property by Steve Rimmer is an excellent inexpensive intorduction.